


Free Fallin’ (Tom Petty, 1990)

by MarmeLady_Orange



Series: MAGNET HEARTS [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Childhood Friends, Elementary School, First Kiss, Friendship, M/M, Not really a relationship yet either, Set in 1990, sleepover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-15
Updated: 2014-06-15
Packaged: 2018-02-04 19:15:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1790164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarmeLady_Orange/pseuds/MarmeLady_Orange
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All it takes is a very much overdue snow storm to start a whirlwind in Castiel’s 11 year old brain… and heart.</p><p>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Free Fallin’ (Tom Petty, 1990)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm hoping "crazy carpets" are common enough for most of you to know what they are… well, those who get snow anyway (even though I read they apparently can be used on sand and grass…? Really? Did anyone ever try that?)
> 
> It was something I very much enjoyed as a kid myself… so yeah, that must be why it's in there!
> 
>  
> 
> I hope you'll like this second adventure… thanks for reading! :-)
> 
> .

The winter of Castiel Shurley’s fifth grade has taken a while to settle. It’s been cold, as it should be, but they haven’t been granted with much snow. And if there’s something Castiel and Charlie love, it’s snow.

Every year they go out to Mister Carver’s field, where the terrain dips towards the stream, and they can spend entire days sliding down on their Crazy Carpets. His is blue and Charlie’s is red. She says they match their eyes and hair and Castiel likes it when she says stuff like that.

But this year is different. Not only is there no snow, but Dean Winchester’s back living at Bobby Singer’s with his kid brother. In some way, it might be best that they can’t go sliding because Dean probably doesn’t have a Crazy Carpet of his own.

Until they get a nice heavy storm, Castiel will get to spend most of his weekends alone in his room because his dad doesn’t want him to have friends over. He’s certainly not about to ask if he can go hang out at Mr. Singer’s, seeing that his and Dean’s dad are still apparently in some kind of dispute over what happened last spring.

So that makes Charlie’s home, when her mom is feeling well enough, the only warm place they can all hang out together. Most of the time, they’ll rent movies or play video games. Dean often has to bring his little brother Sam with him, who’s only seven years old, but he’s not too bad to hang out with. Sometimes they’ll play a board game he can participate in but otherwise he’s okay to just play by himself or read. The kid does like to read, which Castiel certainly can appreciate.

But usually, they just all see each other at the bus stop and in school. And the more Castiel gets to know the Winchester boys, the more he likes them. He wishes he could just ask his dad to let him be friends with Dean, tell him that the boy had apologized and how they were now pretty good friends. But the only time he’s even tried to discuss this with him, his dark glare was enough to make Castiel drop the subject entirely.

So now, it’s already December and there’s hardly any snow scattered here and there on the grounds of Sioux Falls. The whole town is cold and gray and everyone’s pretty stressed out, probably because the kids can’t really go out and play. Well they can go out and play, but for the life of him he can’t imagine what it is they’d do.

That’s why he’s lucky to have Charlie Bradbury as a best friend. Because tonight, her mom has given her the thumbs up for a sleepover. It’ll be him as well as Dean and Sam. Charlie has decided they’d be watching the Star Wars Trilogy, because it had been a couple of weeks since the last time already. They’ll be eating pizza, chips, jujubes, and peanut M&Ms which are Dean’s favourite.

It’s almost midnight and the three friends are all hyped up on sugar and greasy foods. As for Sam, he’s snoring lightly, his small frame sprawled on the floor right in front of the TV.

“It’s a good thing his eyes are closed. Otherwise he’d go blind.” offers Charlie, finishing off a piece of shoestring licorice.

“Man, that would suck. He’d have the perfect excuse to get a dog.” Dean whines.

“You don’t like dogs?” asks Castiel, pretty sure that could never be possible.

“Nah. Dogs are mean.”

“No they’re not. How about cats? Everyone likes cats.”

“I’m allergic.”

“Birds then?”

“My dad goes crazy when birds poop on the Impala. Birds always crap on stuff.”

“Guinea pigs? You gotta love guinea pigs. They’re so cute and cuddly... or rabbits?”

“Guinea pigs are rats with girl hair! And all rabbits do is make babies. Animals are dumb!”

Castiel gasps at Dean’s latest statement.

“Animals. Are. Not. Dumb.” he responds, pressing on each word with all the might he can muster on top of his 11 years old.

“Yes. They. Are.” Dean replies, clearly mocking Castiel’s tone.

“No. They’re. Not.”

“Yes. They. Are.”

“No. They’re...”

“Guys, stop it. You’re missing the movie! You’re making me miss it.”

“Not…” Castiel still mumbles before scowling at Dean who just laughs back at him.

“Hey kids, I know you got no school tomorrow but it doesn’t mean you can stay up all night!” Mrs Bradbury tells them all the way from the kitchen. “I want everything off, TV and lights, and everyone tucked in by 12:30, all right?”

“Okay mom!”

“I better not have to repeat myself.”

“You won’t!” the tweens answer as a whole.

“Man, we won’t even get to finish the movie.” pouts Charlie.

“We can watch it tomorrow morning.”

“It’s not the same.”

“Come on! We’ll watch it again next time.” Dean says, getting up to push the coffee table out of the way. “Get off Cas, we gotta open this thing. Help me?”

The boys take the cushions off the couch and pile them on the floor. They both grab the mattress’ handle and pull. It creaks dreadfully but what comes out is a decent size bed, big enough to comfortably accommodate two young boys and a small kid.

“Sucks that your mom wants you to sleep in your room, man!” Dean whispers to Charlie who’s picking up the food to bring in back in the kitchen.

“I know… I can’t wait to be older. If I want to have a sleepover with boys, then I’ll have a sleepover with boys.” she nods, resolute in her idea.

“We’ll have sleepovers until we’re all old and wrinkly!” adds Castiel.

“And we won’t invite our girlfriends and boyfriends because we’ll be friends forever and they won’t be invited!” confirms Dean. Then he looks over at his brother. “And if Sammy’s not a total baby, he’ll be invited too!”

“5 minutes kids!” they hear Charlie’s mom call out.

“Okay guys, good night. There’s extra blankets at the bottom of the end table here. Hum… Do you need more pillows?”

“I’m good. You, Dean?”

“I’m good too. Good night, Charlie! Cas, wanna help me with Sam?”

“All right! Good night Charlie!”

Dean and Castiel easily transport Sam to the bed and Cas can observe his friend take care of his brother. How he is gentle with him, making sure everything is alright and that the kid is comfortable enough.

Then both boys take place on the bed, on either side of Sam. Castiel appreciates this, he feels like he is guarding the boy, like he has an important job to do and it makes him happy. He kind of wishes he had a little brother too now. Also wishes he would have such a close relationship with his sister. Sisters are different, he guesses.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

It’s like he’s just closed his eyes when he feels someone jump in the bed and hears high pitched screams. He opens his eyes again and somehow it’s already morning. And he’s got Charlie jumping up and down on the bed screaming something about… snow?

“It’s snowing! There’s a storm outside! It’s white everywhere!” she’s screaming, making the springs creak so loud that Castiel’s starting to fear the bed won’t hold up and fold on itself, trapping them all inside.

“Charlie! Calm down this instant!” her mother berates her. “And stop jumping on the bed. Let the boys get up in peace.”

“Sorry mom!” Charlie says, jumping down the bed.

But she can’t contain her excitement and grabs Castiel by the collar, her face close enough for their noses to rub together.

“Snow, Cas! Snooooow! We’re sliding today!” she wheezes before crushing him in a hug.

“I’ll have to go home then! I don’t have my Carpet, or my snow suit!”

“Hells yeah you’re going back home, silly! We’ll go after breakfast, huh? You’re coming Dean? Of course you’re coming, what am I saying! I have to go pee! But after, we have breakfast! And then, it’s sliding time!”

“I have to go pee too!” mumbles Sam, climbing over Dean to reach the edge of the bed. As soon as he’s on the floor, he runs out of the living room, suspiciously holding his hands in front of his pants.

“Oh my god!” Dean groans, letting himself fall back on the bed. “Is she always this pumped in the morning?”

“She’s a happy person, so I would say yeah!” replies Castiel. “And now, with the snow and all…”

“Yeah, what’s that about?”

“Every winter we go sliding down Mr. Carver’s hill. We bring our Crazy Carpets…”

“Your what?”

“You know, the plastic roll-up carpets that you sit on to slide down… man… you’ve never done that?”

“I’m not big on winter sports.”

“It’s not a sport really… it’s more like… an amusement park ride. But for free.”

“Ah yeah?”

“Huhuh… I’ll show you. You can take my carpet. Or we can even ride down together.”

“I… I don’t really have a snow suit either. My dad hasn’t… He didn’t really think I’d need one, you know?”

“Does Sam have one?”

“Yeah, but I might let him stay with Bobby today.”

“Okay. I probably have my pants from last year. That’s all you need.”

“Nah, it’s all right. Wouldn’t be the first time I’d get my jeans wet. Or I’ll just wear two pairs!” Dean smiles, excited to be trying something new.

“Okay… I’ll bring them anyway, just in case.”

“Guys, mom’s making french toast! Who wants some?”

“I do!” both boys call back, jumping off the bed and running to the kitchen.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The first glide of the winter is always the best one. The snow is fresh, the air is crisp and the fact that they had waited for this a whole year just makes all that more delicious.

When they get to that particular spot on Carver Hill, as they like to call it, they’re glad to see that they’ve beaten all the kids of the area to it. There’s no traces of anyone being there today. Maybe it’s because it’s still snowing, but Castiel certainly doesn’t care. He thinks it’s even more magical this way.

Now, for the first slide down. He knows he told Dean he’d be sharing his carpet with him but for the first one? He’s not sure he’d like to do that. Because it’s kind of like a tradition at this point. He’s always alone on his slider on his first time. As is Charlie. And they both slide at the same time, hoping they won’t bump into each other on their way down. It’s their thing.

But now, Dean has been added to the mix and Castiel’s not too sure what to do about it. Ultimately though, he decides it’s not that much of a big deal and he walks towards the starting point before sitting on the blue plastic, closer to the front than he usually would.

“Dean, come and sit behind me and put your legs on each side. Use your fists as anchors so we don’t slide down too soon.”

“Like this?” Dean says, wiggling as best as he can on the plastic until his front is flush with Cas’ back.

“Yeah! Make sure you keep your legs inside though.”

“Okay! And now what?”

“Well, now Charlie will count down and when she says go, we go! Just push with your arms. And, hum… I’ll be driving so, if I lean on one side, you gotta follow.”

“Dude! It’s not a car, it’s a plastic rug!”

“Yeah well the plastic rug, as you say, still needs to go where we want it to go. I don’t wanna end up in a tree or in the stream down there.”

“All right. You’re the driver.”

“And don’t you forget it!”

“Are you ready girls?” hollers Charlie, rocking her own red carpet on the snow. “5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Go!” she screams, rocking forward one last time, hard enough so she’d start sliding down.

The boys were a little bit less well synchronized but they start sliding pretty soon after her. The fact that there’s two of them is certainly helping gaining some ground on their friend. Castiel, afraid they’re sliding right into her, tries to steer the carpet to the left a bit.

Too little too late, because as they pass by Dean’s boot catches on Charlie’s rug and it sends her spiraling down. She’s out of the race and they can hear her frustrated cries while they’re still sliding down, accusing the boys of sabotage and treason.

They’re going faster and faster and Castiel starts to worry. He can see the stream perfectly but he’s trying to remember if there are rocks on that side of the bank. He should know, they’ve been here often enough, but he hasn’t slided this fast or this far before so he’s never had to really worry about it.

So he decides he’d rather not know, pulling on the top of the slider and shoving his feet in front of them to try to stop.

“That was the worst idea ever!” he thinks when they start tumbling down instead of gently stopping has he had imagined they would.

It’s him, and Dean, and the carpet, all tangled up together, rolling down a hill covered in snow that’s a bit too fresh and damp. Castiel is under the impression that they’ve been rolling around for hours when it all finally stops. He’s on his back and Dean’s right on top of him, with the Crazy Carpet half curled-up over both their heads.

It’s like they’re in a tent and they both now look like they have blue skin. Which is not as bad as he thought it could have been. He smiles when he thinks that they probably look like smurfs right about now.

That’s when Dean kisses him. Just a peck, like one he’d give a friend on the cheek. But Dean kissed him on the lips. Castiel has never kissed anyone on the lips.

“Cas… Do you want a boyfriend?” Dean asks nonchalantly.

All Castiel can do is shake his head he’s so confused by the kiss and Dean’s follow-up question.

“All right!” he laughs, getting up. He turns around and starts walking uphill towards where Charlie had landed after her own tumble.

Still partially hidden under his curled-up blue carpet, Castiel observes the boy walking up the hill and tries to make sense of what just happened. Clearly, Dean was just messing with him. That’s when he hears Dean, having reached Charlie, ask her loudly if she wanted a boyfriend.

And she giggles. Of course she does. But he hears her say “Why not!”. And they hug. And then they fall and start tumbling down the hill together. It looks like they’re kissing too.

So that’s it then, Castiel thinks. His two best friends are boyfriend and girlfriend.

That’s when Castiel realises for the first time he might have liked to be Dean’s boyfriend after all.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Not copyrighted (by me anyway), not beta'd, still I tried to spell check it… you know… might have missed some stuff… I think I always do!
> 
>  
> 
> Speaking of… little announcement here… I'm working on an entry for this year's DCBB and I'd appreciate if someone offered to beta it for me? If anyone's interested, please let me know. You can find me on Tumblr: http://marmeladyorange.tumblr.com/
> 
> Thank you! 
> 
> .


End file.
